Iran admits protesters were murdered

Iran's hardline judiciary acknowledged for the first time that at least three prisoners detained after June's disputed presidential election were beaten to death by their jailers, confirming a key claim by the opposition movement. It followed months of repeated denials by police and other authorities that the deaths of protesters in Iranian custody were caused by abuse.

In a statement, the judiciary said 12 officials at Kahrizak detention centre were charged, three of them with murder. The prison, in southern Tehran, was at the centre of the opposition's claims that prisoners were tortured and raped in custody. The claims forced the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to order closure of the facility.